Finding Aid for the Weltausstellung in Wien 1873 2002.R.13

Shilpa Rele.
Special Collections
2008
1200 Getty Center Drive, Suite 1100
Los Angeles 90049-1688
Business Number: (310) 440-7390
Fax Number: (310) 440-7780
reference@getty.edu


Contributing Institution: Special Collections
Title: Weltausstellung in Wien 1873
Creator: Klösz, György
Creator: Löwy, J. (Joseph), 1835-1902
Identifier/Call Number: 2002.R.13
Identifier/Call Number: /repositories/3/resources/230
Physical Description: 16 photographs
Date: 1873
Abstract: Sixteen photographs document exhibition buildings and exhibits of the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition. The photgraphs are credited variously to György Klösz, Oscar Kramer, and Josef Löwy.
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Language of Material: Collection material is in German, English, and French.

Scope and Content of Collection

The collection comprises 16 interior and exterior views of the Vienna International Exposition of 1873 taken by György Klösz (8), Oscar Kramer (4), and Josef Löwy (2). The photographers for two of the images have not been identified. Included are a view of the Industry Palace from the west and a view of its south gate; views of the Monaco, Kaiser, Swedish Hunt, and Russian Kaiser pavilions; and a view of the east gate of the Art Hall. Three photographs show sculptures by Italian artists.
Fourteen mounts bear a letterpress crest above the image with text: Viribus Unitis. The photographs are numbered and captioned in the negative in German. All but two mounts are printed with the name of the exposition in German, French, and English below the image, along with the credit: Photographie und Verlag der concessionirten Wiener Photographen-Association. Image titles are taken from the negative.

Arrangement note

Arranged by the processer in a single series: Series I. Weltausstellung in Wien 1873.

Biographical/Historical Note

The photographs in the collection are by György Klösz, Oscar Kramer, and Josef Löwy. These men were three of the six members of the Viennese Photographers Association which held the photographic concession for the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition.
György Klösz (Johann Georg Justus Kloess, 1844-1913) was born in Darmstadt, Germany. After studying pharmacy, chemistry, and photography he moved to Vienna and worked in the photography studio of Hermann Heid. He took over the Budapest operations of Heid and his partner, Ferdinand Ronninger, in 1867. In the 1870s, he was one of the first Hungarian photographers to take photographs of the city of Budapest and other outdoor locations. While he continued to be a prolific photographer, Klösz also branched out to other businesses. In 1879, he set up a lithographic printing press and started to produce reproductions. Between 1890 and 1894, he was co-owner of Budapest Visitors' Magazine. Klösz taught his son Pal photography and in 1903 made him co-owner of his business.
Josef Löwy (1834 Pressburg (Bratislava), Slovakia-1902 Vienna, Austria) was a painter, publisher, and photographer. In 1848, Löwy moved to Vienna, where he first learned lithography and then studied painting at the Vienna Academy. He opened his first photography studio in Vienna in 1856, specializing in portraits, nudes, and landscapes. In 1861, he joined the Viennese Photographischen Gesellschaft, and in 1864 he participated in Vienna's first photographic exhibition. Löwy was one of the early users of the collodion process in Vienna, and in 1885, he founded an unsuccessful dry plate production business with Josef Plener. After his death Löwy's company was continued by his widow, Mathilde Löwy, until her death in 1908, at which time their nephew, Gustav Löwy, took it over, operating it under the name Kunstanstalt J. Löwy.
Oscar Kramer (1834-1892, Vienna) was a photographer; a dealer in photographic supplies, photographs, and art; and a publisher of photographs. He lived and studied in Berlin as a child, but returned to Vienna in the mid-1850s where he opened a photographic supply business in 1856. Kramer became a member of the Vienna Photographische Gesellschaft in 1861, and along with Ludwig Schrank, founded Photographische Correspondenz magazine in 1864, which in short order became the mouthpiece for the Photographische Gesellschaft. In 1873, Kramer became the co-founder and commercial director of the Vienna Photographers Association. The organization was responsible for taking over 2,200 photographs of the 1873 Vienna International Exhibition, but was dissolved the following year due to financial difficulties.
Sources consulted:
Durstmüller. "Löwy Josef, Photograf," in: Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815–1950, vol. 5. Vienna: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1972.
Hannavy, John. Encyclopedia of Nineteenth-Century Photography. New York, London: Routledge, 2013.
Mahler Foundation. "Josef Lowy (1834-1902)." https://mahlerfoundation.org/mahler/contemporaries/josef-lowy/

Processing History

Shilpa Rele processed the collection and wrote the finding aid in 2008. Beth Ann Guynn updated the finding aid in 2020.

Acquisition Information

Acquired in 2002.

Preferred Citation

Weltausstellung in Wien, 1873. Research Library, The Getty Research Insititute, Accession no. 2002.R.13
http://hdl.handle.net/10020/cifa2002r13

Publication Rights

Access

Open for use by qualified researchers.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Vienna (Austria) -- Description
Exhibition buildings -- Austria -- Vienna
Sculpture -- Italy -- 19th century
Albumen prints -- Austia -- 19th century
Kramer, Oscar
Vienna International Exhibition (Date of meeting or treaty signing: (1873).)

 

Weltausstellung in Wien 1873 Series I./repositories/3/archival_objects/1200147

Arrangement

Arranged by the processor.

Scope and Contents

Fourteen mounts bear a letterpress crest above the image with text: Viribus Unitis. The photographs are numbered and captioned in the negative in German. All but two mounts are printed with the name of the exposition in German, French, and English below the image, along with the credit: Photographie und Verlag der concessionirten Wiener Photographen-Association. Image titles are taken from the negative.
box 1, item 1

Löwy, Josef, [View of the Main Facade of the Palace of Industry Taken from the West] /repositories/3/archival_objects/110692

Scope and Contents note

Photographer's signature in bottom right corner of photograph: J. Löwy.
box 1, item 2

Löwy, Josef, Industriepalast: Südportal /repositories/3/archival_objects/110693

Scope and Contents note

Nr. 109. Photographer's signature in bottom right corner of photograph: J. Löwy.
box 1, item 3

Kramer, Oscar, Russisches Bauernhaus /repositories/3/archival_objects/110694

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 1354. Kramer.
box 1, item 4

Kramer, Oscar, Restauration im russischen Styl /repositories/3/archival_objects/110695

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 173. Kramer.
box 1, item 5

Photographer unidentified, Im deutschen Hofe /repositories/3/archival_objects/110696

Scope and Contents note

Numbered in negative: Nr. 572.
box 1, item 6

Löwy, Josef, Pavillion der französischen Commission /repositories/3/archival_objects/110697

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 854. J. Löwy.
box 1, item 7

Löwy, Josef, Monaco-Pavillion /repositories/3/archival_objects/110698

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 811. J. Löwy.
box 1, item 8

Löwy, Josef, Deutscher Fürsten-Pavillon /repositories/3/archival_objects/110699

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 445. J. Löwy.
box 1, item 9

Kramer, Oscar, Kaiser-Pavillon /repositories/3/archival_objects/110700

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 720. Kramer.
box 1, item 10

Kramer, Oscar, Schwedischer Jagdpavillon /repositories/3/archival_objects/110701

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 734. Kramer.
box 1, item 11

Klösz, György, Ruissischer Kaiserpavillon /repositories/3/archival_objects/110702

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 921. Klösz.
box 1, item 12

Klösz, György, Ostportal der Kunsthalle /repositories/3/archival_objects/110703

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 290. Klösz.
box 1, item 13

Photographer unidentified, [Interior of an Exhibition Hall] /repositories/3/archival_objects/110704

Scope and Contents note

Numbered in negative: Nr. 151.
box 1, item 14

Klösz, György, Der Schnitter von B. Philipotis /repositories/3/archival_objects/110705

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 1565. Klösz. Photographer's signature in bottom left corner of photograph: Klösz.
box 1, item 15

Klösz, György, Tasso als Kind, Sk. V. L. Torelli. Florencz /repositories/3/archival_objects/110706

Scope and Contents

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 1565. Klösz. Photographer's signature in bottom left corner of photograph: Klösz.
box 1, item 16

Klösz, György, Die Nacht, v. Leop. Ansiglioni. Rom /repositories/3/archival_objects/110707

Scope and Contents note

Numbered and signed in negative: Nr. 1000. Klösz. Photographer's signature in bottom left corner of photograph: Klösz.